Library Collection Development Policy

1. Purposes and Goals of Collection Development
   Collection development refers to the process of building and maintaining the library's collections. The collection development policy establishes the principles used by Dwight Marvin Library in the selection, acquisition, evaluation, retention and maintenance of information resources in electronic, print and non-print formats. The collection policy reflects the Hudson Valley Community College Mission and the Library's Mission and communicates the guiding principles for the collection not only to faculty, students, staff, and other interested persons, but also to those responsible for developing the collection.
   
   The primary goal of the library's collection development efforts is to provide a collection supporting the needs of the undergraduate study programs at HVCC. The library also recognizes its responsibility to meet the research and professional development needs of faculty by providing access to specialized information sources.
2. Responsibility for Library Collection Development
   A designated librarian serves as a liaison to each academic department as well as administrative areas and is responsible for developing the library collection in each assigned area. Liaison designations are communicated to the campus through the library web site. Using qualitative and/or quantitative assessment measures, librarians are responsible for monitoring the strengths and weaknesses of the collections supporting academic programs in their liaison areas and for setting priorities for these collections. It is expected the liaison librarian will work with faculty in their assigned subject areas to recommend appropriate library materials and that academic departments will involve subject librarians in collection analysis and development for proposed new programs and courses as well as for departmental program reviews. Ultimate responsibility for the library's collection rests with the library director.
3. Library Materials Funds
   The library's materials budget is used to purchase books and serials in print, non-print, or electronic format. This allocation may be supplemented by funds from external sources.
4. Selection Policies
   Selection of materials is a continuous process affected by the changing curriculum as well as the availability of new materials. The primary criteria for selection are the extent to which the material is relevant to the curriculum, improves the overall library collection, and enhances access to information. The general policy for selection applies equally to all types of materials being considered for the library's collection.
   1. General Policies for Selecting Materials
      1. Standards and Ethical and Legal Principles
         1. Standards
            The library supports the statements on collections adopted by the American Library Association's Association of College and Research Libraries and articulated in the "Standards for Libraries in Higher Education."
         2. Intellectual Freedom and Censorship
            The library recognizes that free access to ideas and full freedom of expression are fundamental to the educational process. Accordingly, the library purchases materials that represent a wide variety of viewpoints. To this end, the library subscribes to and complies with the Intellectual Freedom Statements and Policies of the American Library Association, including but not limited to the American Library Association Library Bill of Rights.
            
            Selection of materials does not imply endorsement of the contents or the views expressed in those materials.
            
            An individual or group questioning the appropriateness of material within the collection may articulate their concerns in writing to the library director.
         3. Confidentiality
            The Code of Ethics of the American Library Association establishes guidelines for the protection of library users' privacy and confidentiality rights. Following these guidelines, information about library materials recommended by library users will be kept confidential.
         4. Copyright
            The library complies fully with all of the provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law (17 U.S.C.) and its amendments. The library supports the Fair Use section of the Copyright Law.
      2. Guidelines for Selection of All Materials
         1. Relevance to the curriculum and usefulness to associates-degree study
         2. Evaluation in subject specific and standard library reviewing sources
         3. Price/relative cost of material in relation to the budget and other available or needed material
         4. Accuracy and authoritativeness
         5. Intellectual content and scholarly worth
         6. Objectivity and suitability of content and format
         7. Timeliness and lasting value of content and format
         8. Strength of present holdings on the same or similar subject
         9. Quality and diversity in the collection, including balanced presentations of controversial issues
         10. Where materials have a geographical focus, materials relating to Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, and the Northeast
         11. Demand as evidenced by frequency of delivery requests for material on the same or similar subject or of similar copies
         12. Holdings of other libraries in appropriate resource sharing networks
      3. Considerations for Selection of Specific Types and Formats of Materials
         1. The preference for print format is in transition. Currently, print format is the preferred format for books in the circulating collection. Electronic format is the preferred format for abstracts and indexes, journals and reference sources.
         2. Duplicates are not selected unless warranted by heavy usage of copies already held by the library.
         3. English-language material is added to the library collection. Basic language tools such as foreign language dictionaries and phrase books are collected for general reference needs.
         4. Gifts are added to the collection based on the same selection criteria used for purchased materials. Refer to the Policy on Gifts of Donated Materials for additional information.
         5. The library does not generally collect graduate level materials.
         6. Textbooks and manuals are not purchased or added to the collection unless they have earned a reputation as classics in their fields or are the only or best sources of information on a particular topic.
5. Specialized Collections
   The library maintains comprehensive collections in designated areas including health sciences and automotive technology.
   
   Separate collection development policies exist for subsets of the library collection. These collections include Children's Literature, College Authors and Artists, Graphic Novels, Periodicals, Popular Reading, Reference and Archives and Special Collections.
6. Collection Maintenance
   1. Location of Materials
      Information resources purchased with library funds and gifts to the library become part of the library collection and are housed within the Marvin Library Learning Commons building. Access to electronic information is provided through the library web site and is in compliance with licensing agreements.
   2. De-selection
      De-selection of library materials, the process of removing items from the collection, is essential for the maintenance of an active, academically useful library collection. De-selection provides quality control for the collection by elimination of outdated, inaccurate, and worn-out materials. Librarians are responsible for conducting an ongoing
      de-selection effort to maintain the quality of the collection. Consultation with faculty in their areas of collection responsibility is encouraged. The same guidelines used for selection of library materials provide the underlying principles for de-selection.
   3. Conservation, Preservation, and Replacement
      The subject librarian and other library personnel determine action to be taken with damaged and worn materials. The library maintains a disaster plan that designates procedures for the initiation of action should an emergency arise involving the library's collection.
7. Access/Ownership Statement
   The library maintains a cost-effective combination of owning traditional collections and providing access to other materials to best support the needs of the HVCC community. Integrating access as a part of the collection development policy offers advantages to the library as an information provider. The developments in electronic information systems have made it possible for libraries to collect and organize, and provide access to resources through cooperative collection development and resource sharing. When it is determined that access on demand is more economically feasible in terms of storage, projected use, and cost, this option enhances the library's ability to expand the information base available to its primary users.
8. Resource Sharing and Cooperative Collection Development
   The library is committed to resource sharing and cooperative collection development.
   
   Resource sharing encourages exchange of materials among participating libraries for the mutual benefit of all parties. The library is an active participant in local, state, regional, and international resource-sharing networks and is affiliated with the SUNY library system, Capital District Library Council, IDS Project and OCLC. The library works with its resource sharing partners to establish cooperative collection development programs that will benefit all libraries involved.
9. Collection Development Policy Evaluation
   The Collection Development Policy is reviewed as part of the regular academic program review process by the Dwight Marvin Library Faculty or as necessary.

Acknowledgement is given to the Collection Development Policy from Helmke Library, Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne, on which this policy is substantially based.

REV: August 10, 2012